“I was a stranger and you took me in!” — Jesus, Gospel of Matthew chapter 25.

What would happen if we greeted strangers in our church buildings and in other areas of our daily lives with a commitment to display and share the grace of Jesus and tear down the distance caused by our not knowing one another and our basic human suspicion of others who are different from us?

I’m not sure, but this little photography project reminds us of the possibilities — and this is just a bare minimum start!

As we are reminded, some in their kindness to strangers have entertained heaven’s angels without even being aware of it at the time!

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:1-2 NLT).

There are so many distractions that the heart of our faith often gets forgotten. So here are two simple reminders of the core of our faith — one from Scripture and one artistically done to affirm that Scripture. I hope they bless you as they have blessed me this morning

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated—unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus.